Garet's pieces, whether conceptual in origin or stemming from his investigation of complex systems and algorithmic translations, are informed by the background noise established not only by mass media culture but also by the collective experience of the world that surrounds him. Garet’s reductive process seeks to invert the normative function of this background noise, drawing it up from unconscious status to active presence. He finds further inspiration from observing isolated situations of everyday life and from material interactions that incorporate problems of context, technology, defunctionalization, commodity, and environment.

This piece creates a halo when visitors stand in front of it and considers the notion of sainthood as ‘high performance spirituality’. Since the first century the halo has been used internationally as a marker of the sacred in visual stories, spanning the traditions of Buddhist, Islamic and Christian religions, as well as art from Persia, Greece, India and the Roman Empire.

Cast in silicon with a metallic pigment, the word "white" is represented in nine languages and used as a compositional unit throughout the picture plane. Shuffling the physical properties of language, Kanarek crafts a cognitive interference known as the Stroop affect. "The gap between text and color creates a pause and allows a white boundless space to emerge in the viewer's mind, recalling Kandinsky's observations in 'Concerning the Spiritual in Art,'" says Kanarek.

For the Today is the Day Foundation's 3rd annual benefit art auction, Opalnest art directed and produced this one-night event, including artwork selection, performance programming, and project management, etc.

HANKIE BANK: BOUNDARIES ARE OF EQUAL LENGTH
former Citibank at 1195 Ave of the Americas, New York
Oct 2014

Opalnest was commissioned to produce a theatrical and immersive pop-up shop for the New York debut of independent fashion label Handkerchief. Helen worked with Handkerchief's label founder Amy Cheung on concept and exhibition design. Major tasks included curation, performance programming, location scout, sponsorship, marketing and publicity. Staged inside a 2-story former Citibank, we installed site-specific artworks, including a responsive Nasdaq stock exchange. It was a unique and successful 5-day other-worldly experience combining performance art x fashion, and engaged a wide audience on different levels.

"Co-organized with Creative Time, Living as Form (The Nomadic Version) is an unprecedented international project that explores over 20 years of cultural works that blur the forms of art and everyday life, emphasizing participation, dialogue and community engagement." Helen produced and co-curated the Hong Kong additions to Living as Form (the nomadic version), and designed the exhibition presented by Independent Curators International at TEMP, NYC.

Site-specific exhibition and a series of talks were held at TEMP Space and ICI Hub, New York

Opalnest was commissioned to curate a series of live events at RH Gallery in New York, a series of performances that correlated to the gallery's 3 exhibitions and in response to the architecture of the space, bringing out a different dynamic to the artworks and installations.

Opalnest was invited to curated a new Summer performance series at CoWorker Project's new space in New York's Meatpacking District. We presented Kinematic Summer Festival, with an innovative program featuring some of the most dynamic and exciting sonic artists and experimental visual artists from native New York to abroad.

Opalnest presented a series of multi-faceted public events for the 2012 Armory Arts Week. "Passing Stranger" is an audio-walk and exhibition by artist Pejk Malinovsk. Narrated by Jim Jarmusch, the project reveals the stories of New York's historical East Village poets, through a guided audio tour, interactive digital map, an exhibition at AVA, and sounds by John Zorn.

Helen was asked to produce a cultural event to inaugurate the first edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong. She organized a multimedia art parade starting from the Hong Kong Convention Center along the Victoria Harbourfront, working with Arto Lindsay (artist, musician, producer) and Art Basel's Directors, she selected 11 visual artists based in Asia to collaborate on this massive public happening.

LIVING AS FORM, Hong Kong and New York, Mar 2012-Jan 2013
Organized by Creative Time and ICI, Living as Form (The Nomadic Version) is an international project that explores over 20 years of cultural works that blur the forms of art and everyday life, emphasizing participation, dialogue and ommunity engagement. The Hong Kong additions to Living as Form (the nomadic version) are co-organized with Videotage.

ONE WORLD EXPOSITION, Hong Kong, Dec 2011
One World Exposition, a media arts festival that showcased China and Hong Kong artists presented through exhibitions, performances, symposiums, artist talks and panel discussions. Produced the live participatory opening act at Osage Gallery.

RESCORES (on-going)
A curatorial project to explore and reinterpret the aural potentials of renowned filmmakers. RESCORES NO. 1 was published on Culturehall, Apr 2012RESCORES NO. 2 was published on Culturehall, Nov 2014